Friendly Competition
by Trinilee Greenleaf
Summary: A collection of ficlets that i entered for the MC Mellyn Fanfic Contest
1. Prankwar

This is a collection of all my entries for a contest held at the MC yahoo group. I participated in all six contests. I have not changed them in any way since they were written except the page breaks and so they do not reflect my writing style nowadays seeing as I have improved greatly since then but I was proud of them at the time and still am in a strange way as they represent how far I've come in my writing. Enjoy!

2nd place winner of first MC Mellyn Fanfic Contest

Title: Prank-war

Summary: An elf prince, a pair of twins and a human start a prank-war. Inspired by Shell.

Rating: K

Disclaimer: The characters are not mine unfortunately. They belong to the great Tolkein.

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Yawning, Elladan stretched. Blinking the last remnants of sleep away, he lethargically got out of bed and dressed. It had been a late night last night. Legolas had come for a surprise visit, and even more surprisingly, he had not been injured! The first time in over 500 years he believed.

Chuckling quietly to himself at the thought of the many tales they had regaled each other with until the early hours of the morning, Elladan walked over to his door. He knew that Estel wouldn't be awake yet; that human could sleep for Middle Earth! And Legolas probably wouldn't be either. They had all seen his tired and pinched features, and he was clearly showing signs of fatigue. He had encountered orcs along his journey and had so slept very little since then, constantly on the alert.

Legolas had been the first to go bed, and the rest had soon followed as it had been late, very late.

Turning the handle, Elladan could hear Elrohir doing the same just down the hall. Elrohir's room was two doors down from Elladan's as Legolas' was in the middle. It had always been so as the twins had always liked to be near the Woodland Prince whenever he had been staying with them, which was most of the time. There had always been something ailing him, whether it had been an injury of some sort or a nightmare. Nightmares had frequented the Prince so much after he had lost his naneth to orcs that the twins had actually moved into Legolas' room at one point, to watch over him as he slept.

When Estel had arrived, a cot had been set up in Legolas' room so that both the twins and the Prince could be near the young child at all times.

Not in the least bit fazed that Elrohir was walking out of his room at exactly the same time as him, as it happened often, Elladan pushed open his door.

Gasping with surprise, he vaguely heard Elrohir do the same. And then something fell over his eyes, and all went black.

Elladan angrily pulled the bucket off of his head and looked down at his sopping robes. Looking down the hall, he saw a reflection of what he himself must look like.

"'Ro?"

His twin looked up from where he had been fingering his water-sodden garments. "I can't believe them! I would have thought that they wouldn't be up for another hour yet at least after the time we went to bed last night. Legolas was practically sleeping on his feet!"

"And yet they still found it necessary to wake up early this morning just so that they could rig our doors! Well, four can play at this game," said Elladan and he and Elrohir both grinned wickedly.

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Round the corner from where the twins were standing, dripping water onto the corridors of Imladris, two figures lay laughing on the floor.

"Did you see 'Dan's face when he took the bucket off his head?" giggled Estel.

"I know!" replied Legolas between gasped breaths, "he looked ready to kill!"

The two stood, brushed themselves off and, still laughing, made their way down to the dining room where breakfast would be served.

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The twins walked into the hall to see Legolas and Estel already sitting there. Their ire was raised a little by the smug looks upon their faces.

Taking their places opposite the two, neither side noticed when Lord Elrond walked in.

"So," Estel said conversationally, "did either of you have a shower this morning?"

Legolas snorted into his porridge.

"Estel why would you ask such things?" all heads turned to look at Lord Elrond who took his place at the head of the table.

"Oh, no reason ada," Estel replied, elbowing Legolas to try and stop the elf snickering.

A raised eyebrow was all they received.

Breakfast was a quiet affair, with the twins glaring daggers at the prince and human who spent the whole time trying not to burst out laughing. They were the first to excuse themselves and almost ran out of the room only to collapse with laughter at the base of the stairs.

"I think we'd better stay out of their way don't you Legolas?" laughed Estel as they made their way to the border of the forest that surrounded Imladris.

"Aye, I wouldn't like to be on the receiving end of their anger. They really looked ready to kill this time."

Legolas nimbly jumped up to the top of an old oak, whilst Estel contented himself at the bottom. Legolas started a conversation with a squirrel that lived in the tree and Estel was happy to just sit and let the sun warm his face.

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Straight after breakfast, the twins made their way to their opponents' room. The others may not know it yet, but they had just started a prank-war.

Elrohir crept into Legolas' room, whilst his twin crept into Estel's. Elrohir took a small bottle of berry juice from the inside of his tunic and tiptoed into Legolas' bathing chamber. Quickly locating Legolas' shampoo he took both bottles over to the sink.

Unscrewing the lid of the shampoo, Elrohir watched gleefully as the contents of the bottle dripped down the drain.

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In Estel's room, Elladan had taken out a similar bottle to Elrohir's, except this one was filled with paste. He mimicked his twin's movements in taking his little brother's shampoo from the bathing chamber and emptying its contents down the sink.

Breaking the chain of similar actions, Elladan set up the rest of the prank.

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The day passed quickly with both pairs of trouble-makers trying to avoid each other. When they bumped into each other going to dinner, Legolas and Estel could not understand why it was Elladan and Elrohir who had the smug looks on their faces. They had been sure the twins would still be angry at them for the stunt they had pulled that very morning.

Shooting confuse looks at each other, the prince and human nervously sat down at the table.

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Dinner was a quick and quiet affair, and soon Estel and Legolas had said goodnight to each other, and were now running both running a bath as it had been quiet a warm day and Estel had been sweating throughout most of it. Legolas as an elf did not sweat but he liked to be clean and tidy and he also loved a bath before bedtime.

Stripping out of his clothes, Legolas stepped into the steaming bath and let out a contented sigh as his body slipped under the water. He stayed there for several minutes just relaxing, and then lifted himself up and grabbed the shampoo bottle on the side of the bath.

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Aragorn was in and out of the bath in a matter of minutes. _'No doubt Legolas is still in there,' _he thought, smiling to himself, _'prissy elf.'_

Aragorn did not like baths as much his friend did. Legolas could be in there for hours whereas he preferred a quick soak, wash and then out. He just simply was too use to being out in the wild with his fellow rangers. There was rarely enough time whilst on duty to bathe and most of the time there weren't even any streams around to bathe in!

Grabbing a comb from his bedside table, he steeled himself for the hellish task of brushing his hair. His unruly locks of brown curls were so matted at times, that he could hardly ever pull his hands through it let alone a brush. He remembered one time Legolas had tried to brush it for him and the handle of the brush had come off in the archer's hands, leaving the rest of the brush stuck in his head. He could still remember the pain he had gone through to get the broken brush out. He had had a slightly bald patch for weeks!

Standing in front of his mirror he looked up and gasped at what he saw.

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There was a knock on his door.

"Who is it?"

"It's me."

He sighed gratefully. "Come in."

His adan friend practically ran into his room.

"Legolas the twins they pu-" Estel's words stopped abruptly as he took in the sight of his friend. Legolas was sitting on his bed, dressed in his white nightclothes with his head in his hands. Nothing was different apart from the colour of his hair. Instead of being the normal bright, golden blond, it was instead, a pale pink-y red.

Legolas looked up and gaped at his friend. It seemed that he had got off lightly compared to Estel. His dark curls were even more matted than usual and looked to be covered in what surprisingly looked like paste, and stuck to the paste, sticking out at odd angles all over his head, were white, fluffy feathers making it look as though he was wearing a feathery halo.

"It looks like we started a war mellon nin."

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The next few days were humiliating for the elf-prince and human. They garnered strange looks wherever they went and some elves even had to avert their eyes as they walked past to prevent themselves from bursting with laughter.

The day after the twins prank, Legolas and Estel had confronted the two and they had agreed the terms for the war.

After a week or so, and at least fifty washes, the colour had faded from Legolas' hair. Tiny bits of fluff could still be seen in Estel's hair for a few more days after that until they too, finally disappeared.

The next few weeks were spent playing one prank after another. It was a well-known fact that you had to try and best your opponent's last prank and so they became more and more humiliating.

Estel and Legolas' retaliation to the hair stunt was to steal the twins' clothes when they went for a swim in the lake, forcing them to run home with nothing on, gaining some pink tinges on most female elves' cheeks that they past.

The twins' reprisal was to pilfer the other's undergarments and set them flying from the roof of the Last Homely House for all to see.

The prince and ranger then placed snakes in the twins' boots, smeared glue on their swords, carved 'stupid' into all their arrows and cut smiley faces in the backs of their tunics which acquired a lot of laughing and pointing from the other elves of Imladris.

Rivendell had long since grown used to the troublesome ways of the three elves and human, but it was certainly a funny sight when the twins' revenge was to tie pink bows in Legolas' and Estel's hair whilst they were sleeping (the sleeping draught that they slipped into their dinner had made this very easy), dye all of their clothes pink and paint a picture of them in dresses on a huge oak tree just outside the house.

Estel and Legolas spent a lot of time planning their next move and were nearly hugging each other with joy when they finally thought of it. They decided that it was pure genius and that this would certainly make them victorious.

This prank would definitely make the twins feel like the elfling's that they always treated Estel and Legolas as.

Grinning evilly, the elf and human ran off to set up the prank of the century.

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_This was meant to have a sequel to it but I am afraid it was never written and might never be. But how about I let your imaginations run by challenging you to think up a suitable prank for them to pull? _

_Trini_

_X x x X_


	2. Loss of a Loved one

1st place winner of second MC Mellyn Fanfic Contest

Title: Loss of a loved one

Summary: Thranduil watches over his son two weeks after he lost his wife.

Rating: K

Disclaimer: see chapter 1

Authors Note: Legolas is roughly 5 in human years.

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The moonlight shone through the open window and highlighted the outline of the small figure that lay in the large double bed. The figure was very tiny and was made to look even smaller but the amount of pillows and the immense size of the bed that was obviously too big for him.

Standing outside on the balcony of the bedroom, another figure's outline was painted in the glow of the moon. This figure was a lot bigger than the one who lay fast asleep; oblivious to the sorrowful musing's of his ada who stood outside surveying the woods of his Kingdom.

Sighing, Thranduil Oropherion, King of the woodland realm, re-entered his son's room and sat down lethargically on the chair next to his child's bed. It had taken about two hours, many hugs and a lot of tears before Legolas had finally fallen asleep. It had been the same every night for the last two weeks, ever since…since…

Burying his head in his hands, Thranduil let his own tears fall. Muffling the noise of his sobs so that he didn't disturb his beautiful child, Thranduil finally grieved for his wife. That wonderful, delicate creature that had passed from the shadows of his world.

This was what made it hard for Legolas to sleep. The poor elfling was plagued with nightmares of the horrific scenes of that event; His mother's screams, his own pain at the hands of the orcs, their rescue, his near-death experience and finally, the death of his naneth. The young elfling had been traumatized and if he stopped to think about it, Thranduil would say that he probably was too.

His wife had been brutally ripped from him, and his son might have left him too. Might still leave him in fact. If his poor son didn't get over his grief, then he would follow his naneth to the Halls of Mandos. If that happened, Thranduil was certain that he too, would follow his loved ones. And what would become of Greenwood then? It would fall into darkness surely if the whole royal family left it to its own devices.

The royals were the only things keeping the forest alive at the moment. The darkness that sought to claim their lands was constantly being pushed back and without their loved and cherished leaders, the elves of Greenwood would surely not be able to continue fighting the ever-darkening shadow.

Raising his head and sniffing gently, Thranduil leant forward and swept a golden lock of hair out of his Greenleaf's eyes. That was when he noticed the tear-tracks on his child's beautiful face, much the same as his own. Using the thumb of his right hand, he swept the salty drops away, giving the look of happiness of his son back. If you did not know what had happened and you saw the sleeping elfling now, you would think that he was the happiest child on Middle Earth. There was just a look of pure innocence and bliss that surrounded his son, and Thranduil wished with all his heart that that was the truth.

He wanted his bright, happy-go-lucky child back, the one who would smile and laugh all the time. Who would look at him with those beautiful sea-blue eyes of his, who would run, jump and play with such enthusiasm and joy that it would bring a smile to all those who saw him. He did not want the mere shell that was now his son. All light had seemed to disappear from his striking azure orbs. All…well, just everything that made his son his son and vanished at the loss of his wife.

He prayed to the Valar every night, asking them that if he can't have his wife back, could he at least have his son back. But it seemed that they did not hear him. His prayers either fell on deaf ears or the Valar were taking the long route to grant his wish. Thranduil hoped for the latter as he would not be able to bear losing his son, in body or in spirit.

But there had been some improvements in Legolas' condition. All his physical wounds had long healed but there had been a sign of the mental ones healing too. Elladan had told him that the elfling had given him the ghost of a smile yesterday. Not really a cause for celebration but it was definitely an improvement.

Thranduil had been very grateful to his friend when he and his sons, Elladan and Elrohir, had offered, no, demanded that they escort the King and Prince home once Legolas had healed enough. They would be leaving in two weeks and were helping him work on Legolas' state of mind.

Thranduil stood up quietly and after leaning forward to kiss his son's brow, he walked out of the room, closing the door gently behind him. Making his way to his own chambers, the King sighed again. Entering his chamber, he quickly changed into his nightclothes and wearily clambered into his bed.

Rolling over, he placed his hand on the empty pillow beside him. Her head would never rest there again. She would never again be the first thing he saw when he woke up in the morning. He would never be able to hold her close to him and feel the smoothness of her skin against his own body. He would never be able to stay awake and watch her as she slept and dreamed. Never…

Clenching his outstretched fist, Thranduil relived the moment they had first laid eyes on each other, just like he did every night.

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"I present to you, Thranduil Oropherion, Crown Prince of Greenwood. The blonde-haired elf strolled into the hall, looking every bit a prince. His whole being just seemed to say royal, noble and proud.

The calm exterior however was just the cover of a tangle of nerves. He had been terrified of this celebration for ages because it would be his duty to say the opening speech.

He raised his chin slightly as he walked to his seat, and looked straight into the eyes of the most beautiful maiden he had ever seen. Her hair looked like raven coloured silk. Her lips were full and a healthy pink. Her cheeks were tinged with a happy blush. Her eyes…oh, those eyes! They were a bright, deep green and he knew that he could lose himself in their depths. She stared back at him, obviously feeling the same sensation that seemed to make Thranduil's stomach flip.

Reluctantly breaking the eye-contact, the prince carried on walking and took his place next to his newly-wed best friend, Elrond and his wonderful wife Celebrian. Next to her, sat Celebrian's parents and on the other side of them sat his own father who in turn sat next to Elrond's mother and father.

The three rulers, and their children, of the three most prominent elven realms sat at the head of the long table that seated the most important elves of all three empires. The celebration was in aid of Elrond and Celebrian's bonding which had taken place no less than three days ago. Thranduil was to make a speech but he could not get the words to form in his head. All he could think of was that beautiful maiden. He would definitely find her after all the festivities and find out who she was.

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Burying his face into his pillow, Thranduil reminisced some more. Remembering all the good times they had had together; their first date, their frequent trips to their secret secluded glade, their bonding and so many more.

And then Thranduil, for the second time that night, let down his barriers and let the tears fall.

And the great woodland King learnt, that there is no pain greater than the loss of a loved one.

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	3. Where had 'da world gone?

4th place winner of third MC Mellyn Fanfic Contest

Title: Where has 'da world gone?

Summary: A young Legolas wakes up to find that the world has disappeared under something he has never seen before.

Rating: K

Disclaimer: see chapter 1

Author's note: Legolas is roughly 2 in human years

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Blinking, the young, golden haired elfling sat up in his bed that seemed to just swallow his small frame. Pushing aside the covers, he ran over to the big windows that led out to the balcony and shoved back the curtains and then thrust the wide windows open like he did every morning so that he could say good morning to the nature outside.

A gush of cold air whipped his small braids round his face and forced the elfling back a couple of steps. Stepping out onto the balcony, Legolas gasped in awe and horror at what he saw. The world was truly beautiful; covered in loads of fluffy-looking white stuff but…it was gone! The white stuff covered everything! No green could be seen anywhere!

Running back inside his room, Legolas dressed quickly, miss-matching his tunic and leggings but he was only young and did not really have a sense of fashion as of yet. Dashing out into the corridor, he ran straight into Elladan.

"Whoa there penneth. What is the rush?"

"'Dan! 'Da world! Its-its disappeared!"

Smiling gently, the elder twin scooped Legolas into his arms taking note of his slightly bedraggled appearance, "Calm down penneth, let us go and 'ro. I'm sure he will be able to explain this much better than I." Really, Elladan just wanted his twin to join in the fun of explaining to Legolas where the world had gone. His twin would certainly not want to miss out.

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"'Ro? Where has 'da world gone?" Elrohir smiled and turned to the young elfling who was nestled securely in his brother's arms. His grin widened at the sound of Legolas' pronunciation of his words and looked to his brother to notice that his smirk was being mirrored by his twin.

"Well Legolas," spoke the younger twin, taking the tiny elfling out of Elladan's arms, "shall me and 'dan take you to find out?"

Legolas beamed and nodded his head violently at the twin's words and bounced happily in Elrohir's arms as they made their way from the balcony, from which they had been gazing in joy at the beauty of Imladris, outside into the frosty morning air.

The twins had been delighted to see the snow covering the valley in which they lived and had been happier to realize that Legolas had never seen snow before! It very rarely snowed in Greenwood and it was an even rarer occurrence in Rivendell.

Walking on top of the snow, as was the way with elves, Elrohir walked over to the border of the forest, tightening his hold on Legolas when a cold gust of wind whirled around them. Although it was also the way with elves that don't feel cold, elflings were more susceptible to the elements, meaning that they would become cold long before any of the older elves would.

Bending down, Elrohir crouched, balancing on the soles of his feet; Elladan did the same beside him. Scraping his hand across the snow, he pushed aside the top layer of snow.

"The world hasn't gone Legolas. Look, it's still here. It's just underneath all this white stuff."

Legolas' mouth formed a silent 'o' and then he said, "Ada told me what 'da white stuff is! He say 'dat it called…um…dow!"

The twins laughed, "I think you mean snow Legolas," sniggered Elladan.

Legolas looked thoughtful and then nodded making the twins chuckle again.

Standing up, the twins walked slowly back to the house before Legolas suddenly asked, "Can we play in 'da snow?"

Grinning to each other, Elrohir put Legolas down. "Of course penneth!"

The three enjoyed the rest of the day making snow-elves, having snowball fights and making snow-angels. Laughing and smiling brightly, Legolas always remembered his first encounter with snow.

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	4. Cook's Apprentice

_2__nd__ place winner of fourth MC Mellyn Fanfic Contest_

Title: Cook's apprentice

Summary: Legolas 'helps' in the kitchen.

Rating: K

Disclaimer: see chapter 1

Author's Note: Legolas is roughly 5 in human years.

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"Right Legolas. Let me help you put that on and then we'll get started shall we?"

Giggling madly, the young elfling let Rithil tie up his apron which was patterned with beautiful interflowing leaves of the richest greens and shining gold's.

After Legolas had hurt himself last week whilst trying to prepare a meal single-handedly, Elrond had decided that maybe it would be a prudent idea for Legolas to have cookery lessons. None of them wanted a repeat performance of Legolas previous disaster in the kitchen and Legolas truly did enjoy helping the cooks anyway. And, Elrond knew that Rithil, the head cook, and all of the other cooking staff, absolutely loved having Legolas help them. He seemed to bring laughter and happiness wherever he went with his beautiful laugh and his sunny disposition.

Straightening up, Rithil led Legolas over to the counter, lifting him up onto the small stool that had been placed there so that Legolas could actually see over the top of the counter.

"Now, I have been asked by Lord Elrond to make strawberry pastries for desert and I thought that they would be perfect for you to start your lessons with. Do you agree?"

Bobbing his head elatedly, the young prince replied excitedly, "Strawberry pastries are my favourite! I love strawberry pastries! Can I really help make them? Really?"

Smiling broadly, Rithil chuckled, "Of course you can penneth! Now let's get to work shall we?"

For the rest of the afternoon, Legolas, Rithil and the rest of the kitchen staff, enjoyed a joyous afternoon making dishes upon dishes of strawberry pastries. After several failed attempts, one of which actually blew up in Rithil's face, they finally made two edible dishes full of the sweet delicacy.

Looking at the smiling prince before him, Rithil couldn't help but laugh as he tried to find his young apprentice underneath all the flour that seemed to cover his small being. How the child had managed to get in this much of a mess he had no idea!

Legolas was absolutely covered from head to toe in the powdery ingredient, not one bit of green or gold could be seen upon his apron, and his usually golden-blond hair, was now a flour-ery white.

"I think we should get you cleaned up before you go to dinner. I do not believe Lord Elrond would be very happy to see this little snow-elf eating at his table." Grabbing Legolas around his small waist, the cook flung the elfling over his shoulder, causing Legolas to shriek with joy, and carried him up to his room.

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Straightening the creases in his tunic with one hand and trying to balance the tray full of his day's work with the other, Legolas fidgeted as he stood outside the door to the hall where he and the peredhels usually ate their meals.

Watching the tray wobble precariously, Rithil stood beside his young apprentice-for-the-day, wishing to himself that Elrond would hurry up and ask them in before Legolas got anymore agitated.

When he finally heard the curt, "Bring in the deserts!" Rithil breathed a silent sigh of relief.

Pushing the doors open, the head cook watched happily as Legolas almost ran to the table, virtually tripping over himself to get there. The elfling had to stand on his tiptoes to get the tray actually onto the table, but in the end he managed it.

"Take one! I made them myself! Take one!" Legolas babbled impatiently, watching with wide eyes as both Elladan and Elrohir leant forward and each grabbed one of the pastries.

"After you muindor," smiled Elladan.

"No, no, no. After you," replied Elrohir.

"Together! Both eat it together!" rushed Legolas, clearly exasperated at the fact that the twins were taking so long to sample his pastries.

Grinning from ear to ear, the twins both bit into their pastries.

Legolas watched his hands clasped together tightly, waiting for the verdict.

"Well?" he whispered, a little unsure at the looks on the twins' faces.

Swallowing their mouthfuls, they looked at each other and then both said,

"Exquisite!"

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	5. Mas na ech?

1st place winner of fifth MC Mellyn Fanfic Contest

Title: Mas na ech/Where are you?/

Summary: Legolas is unable to find his way out of tricky situation alone.

Rating: K

Disclaimer: see chapter 1

Author's Note: Legolas is roughly 4 years old in human years.

Rough Translations

Tâd – 2

Taphae-a-toloth - 28  
Taphae-a-neder - 29  
Nelphae - 30

Meleth nin – My love

Aran nin – My king

Dian las, urin nallon. Im go gen, im sí –Little leaf, do not cry. I'm with you, I'm here.

Dúath - Darkness

Iston ion nin, iston – I know my son, I know

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"You'll never find me ada! Not this time! I know a great place to hide!"

"Ah but ion nin you forget that your ada is a champion seeker!"

"You are not!"

"I am too!"

"Are not!"

"I am too," this last declaration was punctuated with a quick dart forwards and a grab at his son. Lifting the squealing elfling above his head and swinging him round, Thranduil brought Legolas down only to start tickling him mercilessly.

Legolas was crying with laughter by the time his ada put him down and his breath hitched slightly as he tried to regain it.

"I am too," spoke the woodland king with a beaming smile.

Giggling Legolas replied, "Alright ada! I believe you! Now start counting!" With that, the young prince was tearing off down the corridor.

Chuckling to himself, Thranduil started to count.

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Running as fast as his little legs could carry him, the blond elfling made his way down into the darker parts of the palace, where he had discovered the perfect hiding place when he had been helping Tinon move some boxes of wine up to the kitchen as they had started to run out and needed the liquid to create a sauce for that nights meal.

Legolas liked to help out around the palace and the staff and servants loved having him help them. He particularly liked helping in the kitchen as he usually came away full of sweet goodies that the cooks supplied him with. For one of his years, it was rare to see him so interested in helping people. It seemed that his huge smile was matched by an even bigger heart.

He skidded to a halt when he realised he had reached his perfect hiding place. Behind a tall tower of boxes, he had noticed a small space, just big enough for an elfling as small as himself to squeeze into. Legolas was just about to wriggle his way into the gap, when he noticed a door open across the room from him.

_Strange_ he thought, _that wasn't there when I was helping Tinon down here._

Walking slowly over to the door, Legolas forgot all about the space behind the boxes and indeed, the game of hide and seek altogether.

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"Taphae-a-toloth, taphae-a-neder, nelphae! Legolas, ready or not here I come!"

And Thranduil hurried off, having no idea that soon, this game would turn into something much more serious.

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Pulling the door open wider, Legolas winced at the loud creaking it made. Slipping inside, the elfling jumped as the door slammed shut behind him. Quickly checking to see if the door had locked itself, the prince breathed a sigh of relief when he found it wasn't.

But then gasped suddenly and whipped around; there were no torches inside the pitch black corridor he found himself in.

Snatching the door handle and wrenching it open, he ran back into the storage chamber, tearing his tunic on a bit of the tunnel's walls he did so, and sucked in the cool air. He didn't like the dark. He never had. Especially since his rather horrible experience in Imladris a couple of weeks ago. He had a noise only to find out it was Elladan and Elrohir in the kitchen looking for something to eat. He had been terrified out of his skin then, and had never quite got over it.

Turning his attention away from his dark thoughts, Legolas grabbed one of the torches that hung from a bracket on the wall. Watching the shadows of the flames dance on the walls for a moment, he finally turned back to the now fully open door.

Taking a deep breath, he walked inside, curiosity more than looking for a hiding place, pulling his feet forward, into the dark unknown.

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"Taw' I've been looking for him for over tâd hours now, I'm getting worried."

Thranduil watched his wife's face fall, and her eyes cloud with concern for her missing son.

"He can never stay hidden for this long. Usually if I can't find him he comes looking for me. And that's only after about half an hour!"

Her calm and steady voice helped soothe his nerves as it always did.

"Organise a search party meleth, I know our son and he is most likely to have gotten himself stuck somewhere or something," her eyes betrayed her smile though as they shone brightly with alarm. Legolas was constantly getting in trouble and he was sure that his wife would soon run out of patience and order him to be kept locked in his room. The love for their son was so great that at times like these it almost caused them physical pain with the amount of distress it put them in.

"Of course meleth nin. I will send someone to keep you updated." Kissing her forehead gently, Thranduil almost ran out of the room in his haste to find Legolas, leaving Tawiandrís with her own morbid thoughts.

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Left or right? Or should he take the middle one? He didn't know and he was starting to panic. He had been trying to find his way out of the tunnels for ages but had seemed to keep ending up either in dead-ends or forks like the one he was at now where the choice of tunnels only heightened his anxiety. Legolas was hopelessly lost. And even worse, his torch was slowly burning away, the flames dimming, the darkness growing ever deeper.

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"Aran nin look!"

"What is it Tinon?"

"The doorway to the underground tunnels is open! He must have gone to hide in there! He was helping move some boxes up to the kitchen the other day, perhaps he remembered and came down here to hide!"

"I think Tinon is right Aran nin, Brethol found this just inside the tunnel," one of the soldiers of the search party held up the green piece of fabric for all seven of the elves who were currently inside the chamber to see.

Thranduil took it from him, nodding his thanks, and turned it over in his hands. It was definitely from the tunic his son had been wearing that morning, he remembered picking it out for Legolas himself.

"Right! Everyone grab a torch and stick together. I know my way around those tunnels but you don't and I don't want to have to send a search party for a search party! One elfling is enough to look for so all of you stick together behind me. Let's go!"

And with that, Thranduil led the soldiers into the tunnels looking for his lost little Leaf.

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Legolas stopped and slid down the wall, his bright azure eyes filling with tears. He would never find his way out and in a matter of minutes it would be too dark for him to see where he was going anyway, as his torch had nearly burnt out.

The young prince grew ever more scared at this thought. Being lost was bad enough, but being lost and in the dark was more than he could bare!

Watching the flames weaken, Legolas held his breath.

Then the light went out and he screamed as the darkness engulfed him.

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They reached a fork and Thranduil was just deciding on which tunnel to take when an echo reached them. Someone had screamed.

"Greenleaf! Greenleaf, mas na ech?" Thranduil shouted, running down the tunnel from which the echo had come from.

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Legolas looked up at the sound of a voice calling for him.

"Ada?" he whispered. When the voice called out again, Legolas jumped to his feet and screamed at the top of his lungs.

"ADA!"

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All eight elves were running full pelt along the shadowy tunnels now. Skidding to a halt, Thranduil froze for a moment at the sight of the small elfling who stood in front of him.

Legolas' face was stained with tear tracks, his tunic had a long rip in it along his left arm and he was covered in dust and dirt that he had picked up along the way.

Passing off his torch to Brethol, he swept his child into his arms, he comforted the elfling as he cried.

"Shhh dian las, urin nallon. Im go gen, im sí."

Legolas muttered something incomprehensible into Thranduil's shoulder.

"What was that 'Las?"

"Dúath, I don't like dúath."

"Iston ion nin, iston."

Carrying Legolas in his arms, the party made their way back through the tunnels, happier now that their prince was safe.

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	6. Run for your Life

2nd place winner of sixth and final MC Mellyn Fanfic Contest.

Summary: Legolas runs for his life.

Rating: K

Disclaimer: see chapter 1

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Legolas scrambled to his feet again after he had fallen to the forest floor for what must have been the fourth time that night. His breathing sped up even more as he heard the trees screaming out warnings to him. He had to run! He had to get out of here before they caught him!

He had been running from the orcs for nearly two days now. He really did not know how he was still standing let alone running full pelt through the thick brush. It did not seem the orcs had tired at all which was worryingly strange. If they did not tire, then there was no chance of Legolas being able to stop. He could not. They would catch him for sure, and he could not let that happen. He had had too many painful experiences, too many painful memories all thanks to those putrid creatures.

Pressing his hand to his side, he gasped as the pain flared; another problem that he did not need right now. The poisoned arrow that had imbedded itself in his left side had hit him about an hour ago, the last time he had fallen. The orcs had been close enough to see him and had fired a rain of arrows upon him. He was lucky to have only been hit in one place.

But he did not feel lucky. The burning sensation that seemed to have spread across the whole of the left side of his body had alerted him to the presence of the poison that the spawn of Mordor coated their weapons in. And the damp patch that had quickly grown into a huge stain that soaked his leggings and made them stick to his skin had told him that he didn't have long before the blood loss got to him. That and the growing feeling of light headedness. It was this that took away his usual grace from his steps.

Ducking just in time to avoid being knocked over by a particularly low-hanging branch, Legolas was still kicking himself for running in the first place. To be chased down like a wild animal by yrch was insulting! He knew that it could not be helped and that any seasoned warrior would have done the same in his situation but that didn't soothe the blow to his pride.

One against fifty were extremely bad odds and no normal person would willingly stay to face them if there was a way out but maybe it would have been better to just face his fate then. Rather than this long, drawn-out chase that was slowly sapping the life from him and that he was beginning to think he would not survive.

His muscles all screamed with exertion, his whole left side and worryingly parts of his right side were burning fiercely with the pain of the poison, his head was throbbing mercilessly and he was so tired and hungry that it was almost painful. He was glad that it was not though as he was sure he would not have the strength to endure that pain on top of all the others.

As his head was snapped to the side by protruding branch and a long deep cut was gouged into his cheek, Legolas could only wish that the twins would find him before it was too late. They had been separated from each other when chasing after a herd of deer. That was how he had run into the orcs; they had been chasing the same herd.

Thinking back on it all, Legolas started to wonder if the twins were alright. He was sure that they were but he could not help worrying. Of course they must be looking for him, but was the reason they had not found him already that they too were in some sort of danger?

Shaking his head and wincing at the pain it caused, he shook off those morbid thoughts. No, the twins were alright and the only reason that they had not found him was because he had constantly been on the move for the last two days.

Taking a quick look over his shoulder he saw, thankfully, that the orcs were not in his sight but if he listened close enough, he could hear their tramping feet and yelling voices quite clearly. Meaning that he had not lost them and that they were not that far behind.

He turned his attention back to the path in front of him only to run smack bang into something or someone. Thinking that the orcs had been clever enough to get ahead of him, cutting off his escape, Legolas finally let the past few days catch up with him and he fainted into the awaiting arms of his captor.

His last thoughts before darkness took him, only of his father and the twins and how he wished he could say goodbye.

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He ached all over but at least he was not running still. He had dreamt that he was still in the forest, still being chased by the orcs. But if he wasn't in the forest then where was he?

Prying his eyes open he waited a few moments for his vision to clear. Only to squeeze his eyes shut again as the light in the room sent his head spinning and his stomach reeling.

"'Ro close the curtains."

As soon as the light had been shut out, Legolas once again opened his eyes. He looked up into the face of Lord Elrond who only smiled back at him. He tried to speak but found that his throat was too dry. He was quickly eased upright and a glass of the cool liquid was pressed at his lips.

Sipping at it gently, he could only sigh quietly as the soothing fluid ran down his parched throat.

"Is that better penneth?"

Legolas nodded weakly only to wince slightly at the pain that flared in his temple.

"Easy Legolas," another voice spoke, "you've been through a lot over the past few days."

The woodland prince finally realised where he was and who was speaking to him.

"Elrond?"

"I'm right here Legolas. You gave us a scare yesterday you know."

At Legolas' puzzled expression the elf lord explained.

"The twins found you in the woods yesterday. Well, from what I hear you found them actually. They killed the orcs that followed you and brought you back here. You were exhausted, dehydrated and the arrow wound in your side was covered in orc poison and had also become a little infected. You know, I believe the last time you were brought back here unable to stand by yourself, your father and I agreed that we would never let you out again," Elrond punctuated this statement by raising one eyebrow.

Legolas smiled, "I believe you say that every time I'm brought back to you unable to stand by myself."

Chuckling Elladan moved into the prince's line of vision, "That doesn't mean you're allowed to keep looking for trouble though."

"I don't look for trouble! Trouble always finds me."

"Hmm," Elrond's first eyebrow was joined by his second, "I'm sure that is the truth but it doesn't take away the fact that you are always in trouble of some sort. Anyway, enough of this now, I can see that you are still tired. Get some sleep Legolas."

Legolas needed no further prompting, his eyes slipped shut and he wandered off to the realm of elven dreams.

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_Well that's it! I do hope you enjoyed all these ficlets, please leave a review to let me know what you think!_

_Best wishes,_

_Trini_

_X x x X_


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